Former Madera Resident Sentenced for Fraudulent Sales of Websites

FRESNO, CA—Senior United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced Phillip Jacob Shinen, 33, formerly of Madera, today to 27 months in prison for wire fraud relating to the fraudulent sale of websites, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, between February 2007 and March 2008, Shinen advertised and sold various websites to the public. He guaranteed to purchasers that the websites would produce a certain threshold income and promised that he would train purchasers to use the websites. The websites, however, did not generate the level of income or Internet traffic claimed by Shinen. In order to make it difficult for the website purchasers to contact him, Shinen used a number of aliases.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Crimes Task Force, which is made up of law enforcement officers from the FBI, Fresno Police Department, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Henry Z. Carbajal, III prosecuted the case.